Elias notches hat trick, Devils top Flyers

Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Patrik Elias notched his eighth career hat trick
to lead New Jersey over Philadelphia, 4-2, at Prudential Center.

Nick Palmieri also tallied and Brian Rolston added three assists for the
Devils, who remained in the playoff picture with their second straight
win.

Johan Hedberg made 34 stops as New Jersey still hopes to avoid missing out on
the postseason for the first time since 1996. Jacques Lemaire's club would
have been eliminated from postseason contention with a loss of any kind on
Friday.

"We came out to compete," said Hedberg. "We know we're pretty much out of it.
We have a lot of pride in this room and a coaching staff that won't let us
relax for a second. Everybody in here wants to keep winning."

James van Riemsdyk and Jeff Carter scored for the Flyers, who have dropped
five of seven but still remained one point ahead of Washington for top spot in
the Eastern Conference and four ahead of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division.

Brian Boucher yielded all four goals on 24 shots.

Hedberg stretched out to rob Danny Briere's left-wing chance just over two
minutes into the third period, then Carter eventually hit the net with a
helper from Zherdev at 4:18 to forge a 2-2 deadlock.

Ilya Kovalchuk then wound his way through the Flyers zone and let a shot go
that was tipped in by Palmieri at the side of the crease for a 3-2 Devils'
edge at 8:55, and Elias capped his trifecta with 2:46 remaining when review
upheld his score that ticked off the back of his skate.

"We keep talking about being the top team in the league but we haven't played
that way," Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "We want to be the top team
in the East, but right now we have to get our game in order. These last four
games are huge for us. Going into the playoffs, we have to get our game back
on track."

The Flyers got on the board with 9:10 to play in the first, when van Riemsdyk
drove the net and tipped in a right-wing shot from Mike Richards.

The Devils equalized at 6:28 of the second period when Elias one-timed a
Rolston feed from the high slot, then went up a goal at 8:20 while shorthanded
thanks to Elias finishing off another dish from Rolston.

Game Notes

New Jersey won the last two games in the season series to even it 3-3-0...Van
Riemsdyk's tally was his 20th on the season, giving the Flyers six players who
played with the club from the start of the season with at least
20...Philadelphia hosts the Rangers on Sunday, and the Devils host Montreal on
Saturday.